Spurs player who Jose Mourinho believes ‘will be a coach someday’ could be on his way to La Liga

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Atletico Madrid have reportedly opened talks with Tottenham over the signing of Danish international midfielder Pierre Emile Hojbjerg.

That’s according to Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail, who claims that the former Southampton midfielder wants the opportunity to join the La Liga side and compete in the UEFA Champions League.

Tottenham are reportedly unwilling to do business at this stage, but the Mail claim that conversations are ongoing for the deal to happen.

The 27-year-old was brought to the club under Jose Mourinho back in 2020 and was immediately one of Mourinho’s favourites as he made a big impact for the London side.

‘He is going to be a coach one day’

Mourinho not only called him a ‘pain’ in training for asking too many questions during the sessions the Portuguese put on but the current Roma manager is convinced that Hojbjerg will one day become a coach.

“He is going to be a coach one day for sure,” Mourinho said in glowing terms during the Christmas of 2020 when Spurs were in a title race. Despite Mourinho’s slump and eventual sacking, the importance of the Danish midfielder to Tottenham remained, with Antonio Conte a big fan of the midfielder during his strenuous spell in London.

Hojbjerg featured 35 times out of a possible 38 times in the Premier League for Conte and interim boss Ryan Mason, so his value to Tottenham is clear.

With the arrival of Ange Postecoglou, the former Celtic boss may well want to retain the services of the midfielder to anchor the middle of the park with James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur playing further forward.

The former Bayern Munich midfielder ranks high with interceptions (1.44 per 90) and clearances (1.88 per 90), according to the statistical website FBREF. You could see him working in Simeone’s 4-4-2 formation and particularly excelling in such a well-structured defensive unit.